Is religion a form of 'slavery'; a means to control, a means to keep people in 'check', with all its ideologies and so forth or does it truly 'liberate' you?
What are your thoughts...
those aren't your thoughts...
my thoughts are that being a Christian isn't being religious. Something that keeps you from being free then yes it is slavery. But it says in the Word of God that his yoke is easy and his burden light, so nothing that Christ asks us to do is troublesome. He always keeps us strong, and doesn't make us do anything that will cause us harm. So no Christianity is not slavery, however other religions such as Mormanism, Buddism, Muslim fro instance that have all types of rules and regulations well it's those you have to think twice about. But I serve a TRUE and LIVING God so no I am not enslaved.
I'm not religious, but I don't think religion is necessarily a form of slavery. Religion teaches people moral values that could be used in everyday life. It might be considered a form of slavery when it is interpreted in different ways or taken to the extreme.
I also think that it is wrong to say that Christianity is not a form of slavery but religions such as Mormonism, Buddism, and Islam (Muslims are the followers) are forms of slavery. Christianity is a religion, just like the others. ALL of these religions teach self discipline and good morals. It is the different ways in which different people interpret the religion that determines the rules and regulations that some followers live by. Christianity can be taken to the extreme, just like any other religion (like the Christian group that thought that drinking the poisoned kool-aid would bring them closer to god).
P.S. --> not to sound sarcastic or anything, but Mormons are Christians (don't they believe in the same god?)
That depends... personally I see a difference between religion and spirituality. Spirituality, to me, is a personal connection with God which leads one to an understanding of his own existence and purpose, as well as that of the world around him. Religion is the structure or dogma that serves as a vehicle for one to achieve spiritual growth.
Religion can be a path to discovering a relationship with God where none existed before. It gives someone who has little concept of their own beliefs reinforcement and knowledge that will allow them to develop on a spiritual level. It also guides those who want to be closer to God in a structured way that they can foster that relationship and have a sense of direction. It serves as a foundation from which one's walk with God begins.
However, the limits of (organized) religion can serve as constraints for those who discover that their relationship with God has expanded beyond the infrastructure created by religion. In this, there is a conflict - an inner dispute between one's personal beliefs and experiences and what a religious doctrine teaches that those beliefs should be. If this is the case, then you must pursue your own spirituality, which I believe supercedes any doctrine created by man. If your life experiences have caused you to believe that what you have been taught is not fitting with your personal and intimate relationship with God, then your own experience must always take precedence.
Think of it as a parent teaching a child about where babies come from. When the child is too young and mentally inexperienced to completely understand the means behind this, a substitution would be made - "the stork drops off babies for new moms" so that the child would have some sort of understanding. When that child reaches a point where they are capable of comprehension on another level, that previous knowledge becomes useless and they progress to the next stage of truth.
In life, the acquisition of all knowledge takes place like this. We accept an explanation that may not be entirely accurate or all-encompassing, but is self-serving: it gives us a semi-acceptable answer until we are capable of a higher level of knowledge. 1000 years ago people believed and taught that the sun revolves around the earth. Now, we "know" that the planets revolve around the Sun. It is possible that thousands of years from now that we will discover that this is not true, or that neither is true.
Philosophically speaking, all "knowledge" is misleading, because it assumes that we can prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt, and because of our human limitations we cannot. In this sense, religion can be a cornerstone of faith, but for some it can also be an obstruction that insulates people from developing their own relationship with God. Holla!
Philosophically speaking, all "knowledge" is misleading, because it assumes that we can prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt, and because of our human limitations we cannot. In this sense, religion can be a cornerstone of faith, but for some it can also be an obstruction that insulates people from developing their own relationship with God.
I like how you broke that down.
To aquire knowledge can be a limitation.
Thats why children are considered the absolute representation of freedom.
They're not bound by any dogma or prescribed idealogy.
I try to not be attached to any religion (although I do learn from various schools of thought).
No, religion is not slavery,... but its application CAN be a tool of slavery.
i agree w/ HowardLadie. slavery is servitude, bondage. serving the Lord is different from serving an earthly master. the earthly master is imperfect. God will never place anything on you that u cannot bare and whatever he brings u to, he will bring u through. further, you are not bond to a way of thinkin, the bible is up for interpretation. as long as ur actions and thoughts are sincere, u are free to live your life. God asks very little in return for the ultimate sacrifice he made for your salvation....
For years whites used religion to justify holding blacks in bondage, if one looks at the history of the world they are not the only ones to do so. Often time religion binds people doing and acting in a certain way an in that sense it might be looked at as a form of slavery. The only way people can be free of the shackels of religion is to keep an open mind and to study more then one system of belif. Most "religions" say the same thing they just have diffrent ways of saying it.
depends on how u view things. I feel what was said; that being a Christian doesn't equal being religious. If "freedom" to one person is doing all types of things, then "freedom" to another person could mean choosing to abstain from certain things. In all, everything has free will to do as he/she pleases.
Religion is definitely a form of slavery. We use it to justify about almost everything that one could possibly think of. Arabs in particular, i mean those people would **** for their religion and i guest that is because of what their religion says. So yes religion is a form of slavery.
